Adjustable chimney t



United States Patent- [72] inventors: Ray Derringer Port Edwards, Wis., and Robert G. Moss, Wisconsin Rapids, Wis

[21 Application No.: 765,591

[22] Filed: Oct. 7, 1968 [45] Patented: Aug. 4, 1970 [73] Assignee: Preway Inc.

a corp of Wisconsin [54] ADJUSTABLE CHIMNEY T 4 Claims, Drawing Fig.

2,130,385 9/1938 Fluor, Jr. et al 2,888,911 6/1959 Thompson 126/315X 3,052,230 9/1962 Conrad 126/85X 3,266,479 8/1966 Hartzell 126/85 FOREIGN PATENTS 683,809 12/ 1 952 Great Britain. 98/58 Thulman Primary Examiner- William E. Wayner Att0rneyHofgren, Wegner, Allen, Stellmanand Mc Cord ABSTRACT: An adjustable tee for use with a themesyphon chimney having separate passages for up flow and down flow of insulating air and with the adjustable tee having three pipe sections in spaced relation to define a pair of annular air passages communicating with the passages of the chimney to have atmospheric air flow through the adjustable tee passages for cooling thereof as induced by the air flow through the chimney passages and with the sections of the tee being adjustable to vary the over-all length thereof to fit the thickness of a wall in which the tee is mounted.

us. PATENT-3,522,767 ADJUSTABLE CHIMNEY T BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention pertains to an adjustable tee for association with a thermo-syphon chimney having provision for thermosyphon air flow for cooling thereof.

Thermo-syphon chimneys are generally known, as shown in the Fluor Patent No. 2,121,319 and Thulman Patent No. 2.634,720 wherein atmospheric air is caused to flow down and up in passages surrounding the chimney flue. However, these patents have not shown a laterally extending tee connection for mounting in a wall which also is subjected to the thermosyphon atmospheric air flow for cooling thereof and which is constructed to fit the particular wall thickness with which it is associated.

SUMMARY An object of this invention is to provide a new and improved tee construction for association with a thermo-syphon chimney wherein the thermo-syphon action is utilized for cooling of the tee to permit mounting thereof in a wall with the tee being adjustable to adapt to a variety of different wall thicknesses as required in the particular installation.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an adjustable tee as defined in the preceding paragraph wherein the tee is formed of three concentric pipe sections each of which is formed of a pair of relatively movable telescoping members and wherein the outer members of each section remote from the chimney are interconnected for simultaneous movement to facilitate adjustment of the overall length of the tee, and means for holding the tee to its adjusted length.

An additional object of the invention is to provide an adjustable tee as defined in the preceding paragraphs in combination with a thermo-syphon chimney wherein the innermost pipe section of the tee connects with the flue of the chimney, the space between the innermost and intermediate pipe sections of the tee communicates with the upflow passage surrounding the flue and the space between the intermediate and outermost third pipe section communicates with the downflow atmospheric air passage of the chimney to have the flow of atmospheric air around the flue also pass through the concentric spaces of the tee for cooling thereof.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURE 1 is a central vertical section of a thermo-syphon chimney in combination with the adjustable tee shown in mounted relation with a building wall;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary section of the structure shown in FIGURE l'and showing the adjustable tee in a maximum extended position; and

FIGURE 3 is a vertical section, taken generally along the line 313 in FIGURE 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail an embodiment of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated. the scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

The combination is shown in FIG. I wherein a thermosyphon chimney, indicated generally at 10, is mounted externally and adjacent to a building wall 11, with the connection between a space heater or other unit within the building to the thermo-syphon chimney being made by means of an adjustable tee, indicated generally at 12. as shown in FIGURES I and 2, the adjustable tee extends through an opening in the wall 11 and can be accommodated to walls of different thickness, as noted by comparing FIG. I and 2.

The thermo-syphon chimney per se forms no part of this invention and only general reference is made thereto for an understanding of the principles of the invention. This chimney is made up of a number of units fitted end-to-end to form a chimney of the desired height, with there being a chimney base unit, indicated generally at 15, forming the bottom of the chimney and a chimney top unit, indicated generally at 16. A sufficient number of chimney intermediate units, indicated generally at 17, are disposed between the chimney base unit 15 and the chimney top unit 16 to form the over-all desired height. A chimney flue is defined by inner duct sections 20, 21 and 22 of the chimney units with the lower end of the flue being closed by a cap 23. The upper end of the flue is being open to atmosphere but covered by a rain cap 24 held in spaced relation from the upper end of the flue duct section 21 by a series of thin attaching straps 25 secured therebetween.

An upflow air passage for the flow of atmospheric air around the flue of the chimney is provided by a duct surrounding the chimney flue and defined by the duct sections 26, 27 and 28 of the chimney units 15, 16 and 17, respectively.

A downflow air passage for atmospheric air is provided by a second duct surrounding the duct providing the upflow air passage which is made up of a duct section 29 and a duct section 30 of the chimney units 15 and 17, respectively.

The chimney units are constructed for interfitting in end-toend relation and, for this purpose, the duct sections of each chimney unit are held together by an end cap having a central aperture through which flue gases can pass. A pair of end caps 40 and 41 are disposed at the opposite ends of the intermediate chimney unit 17 and engage the duct sections 22, 28 and 30 extending therebetween to hold them in assembled relation, with the lower end of the second duct section 30, as indicated at 42, extending downwardly to fit over the upper end of the base chimney unit 15 to interfit parts together. The upper end of the chimney base unit 15 has an end cap 43 for the same purpose as the end caps 40 and 41 and the adjacent end caps 40 and 43 have a series of apertures 44 and 45 formed therein and in communicating relation to permit the flow of atmospheric air therethrough.

An end cap 47 is fitted at the lower end of the chimney base unit 15 between the flue section 20 and the second duct section 29 to hold the parts in assembled relation and a second cap member 46 is fitted therebelow and extends between the same parts as the cap 47 and also into contact with the lower end of the first duct section 26 to close off communication between the atmospheric air downflow and upflow passages at the lower end of the chimney in order to have cooling air flow about the tee structure later described.

An end cap 50 closes off the upper end of the intermediate chimney unit 17, except for the central opening to permit the flow of flue gases and holds the duct sections in assembled relation with a number of apertures 51 and 52 therein to permit atmospheric air flow.

The chimney top unit 16 has an annular rain cover 55 secured to the flue section 21 and outwardly flared to overlie the upper open end of the duct section 27 which forms the final portion of the upflow air passage whereby upflowing air heated by travel along the flue can exhaust to atmosphere. The duct section 27 has an outwardly flaring rain cover 56 depending from its lower end which overlies and is spaced from the upper end of a duct section 57 forming a continuation of the upflow air passage from the intermediate chimney section 17 whereby atmospheric air flowing upwardly can in part discharge outwardly under the rain cover 56, with the remainder traveling upward and discharging outwardly under the rain cover 55. The rain cover 56 is supported by a series of narrow straps 58 secured to the underside thereof and to the upper side of an annular cover 59 extending outwardly from the outer surface of the duct section 57 to a location beyond the upper end of the second duct section 30 of the intermediate chimney unit 17, and being supported therefrom by a series of narrow straps 60.

Upon operation of the heating device with which the chimney is associated, the hot flue gases flow upwardly and discharge out from under the rain cap 24 at the top of the chimney. The heated chimney, as a result, induces flow of atmospheric air in the direction shown by the arrows, whereby atmospheric air enters under the cover 59 and flows to the upper ends of the downflow air passages and, after flowing downwardly to a point of communication with the upflow passages, flows upwardly for discharge from under either the rain cap 56 or the rain cap 55. In order to insure a sufficient flow of cooling air through the air passages, at least one opening 65 is provided in the flue top duct section 21 to cause part of the cooling air to be pulled therethrough from the upflow air passage and discharge with the flue gas.

The thermo-syphon chimney can be supported from the building wall, by suitable straps, and as shown a plate 66 at the lower end connects the chimney to the wall.

The adjustable tee utilizes the thermo-syphon atmospheric air flow for cooling thereof and embodies three concentric tubular pipe sections in spaced relation to define two annular air passages. The first pipe section provides for flow of flue gases therethrough and has an inner member 70 fitted to a flange 71 surrounding an opening in the base flue duct section and a telescoping member 72 fitted in the member 70 for movement relative thereto. A second pipe section is disposed in concentric spaced relation to the first pipe section and has an inner member 73 fitted around a flange 74 defining an opening in the base first duct section 26 and a second member 76 telescoped onto the outer surface of the first member 73 for movement relative thereto. A third pipe section is disposed around the second pipe section in concentric spaced relation and has an inner member 77 fitted on a flange 78 formed around an opening in the base second duct section 29 and a second member 79 telescoped onto the member 78 and movable relative thereto.

With the interfitted telescoping relation of the members of the pipe sections, it will be noted that the tee can be adjusted from a minimal length of FIGURE 1 to any position up to the maximum extension, shown in FIGURE 2, to fit a variety of wall thicknesses.

An end cap 80 closes off an end of the tee, remote from the chimney 10, with a central opening having a surrounding inturned flange 81, fitted onto the outer member 72 of the first pipe section to connect the two components for movement together. An outer perimetral flange 82 of the cap fits over the outer end of the member 79 of the third pipe section and is secured thereto by suitable means, such as welding, to connect the cap and member for movement together. The end cap 80 is spaced from the end of the second pipe section member 76, but is connected thereto by a series of narrow straps 83 to connect these components for movement together.

With this construction, adjustment of the end cap 80 and the members 72, 76 and 79 of the pipe sections is simultaneous to provide the desired over-all length for the tee. The tee can be held in adjusted position by releasable interengaging means in the form of a pairof threaded members 90 and 91 threaded into suitable openings in the fixed member 77 ofthe third pipe section and engaging in an'elongate slot of a pair of members 92 and 93 fastened to the member 79 of the third pipe section and with the slot therein being shown in FIGURES l and 2 at 94 for the member 92.

As shown by the arrows in FIGURE 1, the thermo-syphon atmospheric air flow in the chimney can only occur by generally horizontal flow in air spaces defined between the three pipe sections of the tee, with the downflow air passing around the connecting straps 83 of the cap into the upflow air passage. The air circulation for cooling of the tee is assured by the closing off of the bottoms of the atmospheric air flow passages at the lower end of the chimney base section 15. The

tee can be adjusted to different positions, without any modifymg effect on the thermo-syphon arr flow since the communication between the passages for the airflow is not affected by the lengthwise adjustment of the tee.

We claim:

1. In combination, a thermo-syphon chimney having a central flue and a pair of surrounding spaced apart ducts closed off at their lower end defining air passages surrounding the flue for downflow and upflow of atmospheric air, said air passages having their upper ends open and a cover structure associated therewith, and an adjustable tee comprising, a first pipe section at an angle to said flue and communicating therewith, a second pipe section concentric with and spaced from the first pipe section and communicating at one end only with the air upflow passage, a third pipe section concentric with and spaced from the second pipe section and communicating at one end only with the air downflow passage, means at the opposite ends of said sections closing off the space between the first and second pipe section and the second and third pipe sections with communication therebetween to connect the upflow and downflow air passages of the chimney and cool the adjustable tee, each of said pipe sections having a pair of relatively movable telescoping members, and means interconnecting all the movable members of the pipe sections whereby the length of the pipe sections can be adjusted simultaneously.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said interconnecting means includes a cap with a central opening fitted against the ends of the movable members of the first and third pipe sections and spaced from the end of the movable member of the second pipe section, and means connecting the cap to the last mentioned movable member without obstructing air flow therebetween.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein the members of the third pipe section are adjustably fastened together to hold the adjustable tee at the desired length.

4. The combination of claim I wherein said flue has an opening and said first pipe section connects thereto and each of said ducts has an opening to which the second and third pipe sections connect. 

